Wrapping and sealing machine



July 30, 1929. w. w. TEMPLIN WRAPPING AND SEALING MACHINE 2 sheets-sheet Filed Sept. 10, 1927 INVENTOR men. a).

ATTORNEY y 30, w. w. TEMPLIN WRAPPING AND SEALING MACHINE F l p 1927 2 sheets-sheet 2 VENTOR mm M.

Arrows? Patented July 30, 1929 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER W. TEMPLIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO E. D. ANDERSON, INCL, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

WRAPPING AND SEALING MACHINE.

Application filed September 10, 1927. Serial N 218,815.

This invention relates to wrapping machines and relates more particularly an improvement in machines for assembling a desired number of articles and wrapping them into a sealed moisture proof package.

In Patent No. 1,516,902 issued to E. D.

Anderson, et al., is disclosed a machine for wrapping and labeling packages of candies. This machine, as set forth in the patent, takes a large number of small articles, such as candied mints, separates from them all broken particles, sugar or pulverlzed material, assembles a number of these articles in the proper relation to make the desired package, wraps the assembled articles in tinfoil,

then places a label around the wrapped package and ejects the package from the machine. The above described machine is adapted to wrap articles which do not require a momture proof package, but is not equipped wlth the necessary apparatus to make a suitable package of hygroscopic articles such as malted milk tablets which absorb moisture so quickly and easily as to require a moistureproof,'substantially air tight enclosure.

My present invention has for its object the modification and enlargement of the machine disclosed in the above mentioned patent, in such manner as to adapt it, not only to wrap and label articles but to seal their wrapper as well, and thus produce a moisture proof package. I accomplish this result by adding to the machine heretofore described, means for applying to the articles a wrapping of waxed paper, heating the waxed paper to melt the wax and cause the paper to stick together. The paper package may be suitably heated and sealed by rolling the package under a hot roll and then pressing the ends of the package with hot irons.

These and other objects and advantages and the manner of attaining them will appear more clearly in the following descrip tion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawin Fig. 1 illustrates in elevation the parts -0 a wrapping machine such as that disclosed in the forementioned patent, necessary to an understanding of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view in elevation of the conveyor chain and end sealing mechanism, partially illustrated in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively side and end elevation views of the conveyor chain shown in Figs. ,1 and 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively end elevation and sectional views of the heating roll shown in Fig. 1.

In the drawing reference numeral 1 indicates a group or package of candies which is positioned in a receptacle 2 by a means not shown. The package 1 is transferred from the receptacle 2 by a pair of oscillating gripping fingers 3 which are rocked, in unison with other pairs of fingers, 4, 5, 6,

7 and 8, at the proper moment by a common means not shown, to a pair of rollers 9 and 10. Just before the package 1 is deposited on the rollers 9 and 10 a length of waxed paper 11 is' fed off a roll of paper 12 by means not shown, and positioned on top of the rollers 9 and 10 directly underneath the package 1 so that when the package is deposited it rests on the waxed paper. The paper 11 is cut off at the proper length by a synchronized knife 13 which is actuated at the proper moment through a series of links by a cam not shown. After the package 1 has been positioned on top of the paper on the rollers 9 and 10 a friction roll-14 is thrust into contact with the top of the package by means of a link 15 connected to a reciprocating rod 49. Roll 14 is rotated at a suitable speed througha gear train 16 and serves to rotate the package 1 in such manner as to roll the'wrapper 11 around the package. When the rolling operation is 'nearly completed a member 17 is thrust upward by means of a linkage 18 and presses 0 the loose ends of the rotating wrapper 11 against the package 1 so as to hold the wrapper in its final position. Upon the completion of the rolling operation of the package the several pairs of fingers are rocked and upon this rocking fingers 4 remove the wrapped package from rollers 9 and 10 and place it on a stand 19 while wrapped "package has been transferred to rollers 20 and 21, which are in this case preferably made of wood or other similar cent portions of the wax paper to stick to each other and form a substantially hermetic seal. This rolling besides sticking the adjacent layers of wrapper together also tightens the wrapper and produces a very firm package. As it is necessary that the roll 22 should be kept at a proper temperature all of the time in order that the wax paper wrapper will be neither burned nor insufiiciently sealed, a thermostat 24 is mounted adjacent to the heating surface of the roll. the electric heating circuit of the roll and serves to control the flow of current therethrough in accordance with the temperature of the roll in a well known manner. It is preferable to place the thermostat adjacent to the outer surface of the roll, rather than inside the roll, as a closer regulation of the actual temperatures of the rolling surface is thus obtained. However, the thermostat might in some cases be placed inside the roll or elsewhere. After the package has been rolled and thoroughly sealed by the hot roll 22 it .is transferred by successive makingsof the fingers to a third pair of rollers 25, 26 and a ourth pair of rollers 27, 28 where it receives successively a wrapping of tinfoil, aluminum foil or similar material, and

a label in a manner more specifically set forth in the patent heretofore mentioned. After the wrapped package has been deposited on the rollers 27 and 28 as indicated at 29, and labeled, the roller 28 is moved away from the roller 27 b action of lever 53, thus allowing the package 29 to drop down between the rollers onto conveyer 30 which is mountedon a pair of standards 54 attached to a narrow extension 55 of the machine base plate 56. The conveyer 30 is provided with a plurality of pockets 31 which are positioned successively under- I neath the opening between rollers 27 and 28' ing of the arms 3 to 8 inclusive. As the conveyer 30 is operated hiyl the wrapped package ally reaches a position near the end of the conveyer as shown This thermostat 24 is placed in' electric heating circuit of both irons.

its successive steps at 33. While it is in this position, with the conveyer 30 stationary at the interval be tween rockings of the arms, a pair of hot irons 34 are pressed against theends of the package shown at 33, by means of a linkage 35 which is in turn interconnected to a lever 48 operated by a properly synchronized cam 36. Each iron 34 is secured to a shaft'57 slidably supported in a journal 58 and is reciprocated instep with the advancement of the conveyer by the linkage 35, which consists of two lever arms 59 and 60 interconnected by a reach rod 61. The operation of the linkage is insured by means of a small rod 62 which interconnects the linkage with the lever 48, operated by cam 36. Inorder to vary the pressure of the iron against the ends of the package, as may be necessary, or to provide for a slightly different sized package it is necessary merely to vary the pointof interconnection of the rod 62 with the lever,4 8 so as to secure a greater or smaller throw for the linkage 35. In order not to confuse the drawing only lever arm 59 has been illustrated in Fig. 1 in order to show the location of the hot irons relative to the rest of the machine.

The two irons 34-may be heated electrically similarly to solderingirons, in a manner well known to the art, and be 'kept at their proper operating temperature by means of a thermostat 37 placed adjacent to one of the irons and interconnected in like n. stead of a single thermostat, a separate thermostat for each iron might be provided if desirable. The'function of the irons is to seal the ends of the wax paper wrapper which encloses the. package. This is accomplished by heating the wax paper at the ends of the package just sufiiciently to melt the wax and cause the adjacent folds ofthevalue so low that the tinfoil will not be melted and yetsufl'icientl high so that the wax paper will be cause to stick together.

For example, this temperature has been found to be, with one particular grade of tinfoil and of paper, between 380 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit, however, with a different grade of tinfoil or paper a different value may be necessary. When aluminum foil is used as an outer wrapper, the temperature of the irons can be maintained in excess of 400 degrees if desirable without injury to the foil. The regulation of the heating of the irons 34 might be accomplished by a thermostat as- I have already stated or if desirable by a hand operated rheostat or similar means. After the ends ofthe package 33 have been sealed the irons 34 are withdrawn from contact with the package by means of the linkage 35, in synchronism with the rockings of the fingers 3 to 8. The entire package is now in its finished sealed form and is allowed to fall from the conveyer into a suitable receptacle.

While I have disclosed an arrangement wherein a tinfoil wrapper is applied to the paper wrapped package before the ends of the package are sealed, it will be obvious that the sealing of the ends of the package might be carried out before the tinfoil wrapper was applied or when no tinfoil wrapper was used, if desirable. However, one advantage in favor of sealing the ends of the wrapper after the application of the tinfoil is that the tinfoil is sealed to the waxed paper wrapper at the ends of the package as a result of the operation. The same advanan excessive amount of heat from tage might be obtained with the rest of the tinfoil wrapper by hot rolling the package after the application of the said wrapper.

The mechanism for operating the oscillating fingers, rolls, conveyor, hot irons, etc., may be driven from a main drive shaft rotated by an'electric motor or other source of power thru a pulley 51 and a belt 52. The entire working mechanism of the wrapping machine has not been shown and described in detail for the reason that the mechanism not shown may be similar to that disclosed in the above mentioned Patent No. 1,516,902.

In Figs. 5 and 6 are shown detail views of the hot roll 22. This roll 22 consists of an inner metallic cylinder 38, of iron orthe like, supported by a spider 39 whichinterconnects the cylinder with a sleeve 40 mounted on a shaft 41. Placed around the cylinder 38 is a layer of heat resisting insulation 42, which may be of mic-a, asbestos, or the like. Around this layer of insulation 42 are placed successively a heating unit 43 and a second layer of insulation 44. Surrounding the whole structure is a second metallic cylinder 45 which provides the working surface of the roll. Current is supplied to the heating unit 43 by means of a pair of wires 46 which connect to a pair of slip rings 47 in the usual manner. One

object of mounting the cylinder on a spider in the above described manner is to prevent being transferred byconduction, from the cylinder to the cylinder shaft bearings, so as to prevent freezing or undue wearing of the bearlhe current source for heating the roll 22 and the irons 34 may be any suitable source such as the usual house lighting current, a generator, battery, or the like.

In applying the waxed paper wrapper to the package as it comes from the reservoir 2 it has been found desirable to apply a double turn wrapper so that a better sealing rollers which support the package during the hot rolling operation for the reason that when smooth rollers are used the wrapper over the surface of the rollers without turning them. Likewise, the rollers should be made of light material, so that it will not be necessary to transmit a large amount of power through the heated wrapper quickly to start the rollers rotating.

While I have disclosed a complete machine for wrapping and labeling packages, it is to be understood that the mechanism for hot sealing the packagesmay be applied to other types of machines than that disclosed.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a variety of modification and adaptations and that the present disclosure is intended merely to illustrate its nature without limiting its scope which is defined in the claims,

What I claim is: 1

1. In a machine for, wrapping articles,

means for positioningarticles, means for in its heated condition has a tendency to slip applying a waxed wrapper to said articles,

a pair of freely rotatable rollers for supporting the wrapped articles and means comprising a hot roll for heating said wrapper to melt the wax and seal said wrapper.

2; In a machine for wrapping articles, means for positioning the articles, means for applying a waxed wrapper to said articles, means for rotatably supporting the wrapped articles and a heated roll for rolling the surface of said wrapper, after the application thereof to the articles, and sealing the same. a 4.

3. In a machine for wrapping articles, means for positioning a plurality of the articles, means for applying a waxed wrap per to said articles, means comprising a heated roll for rolling the surface of said wrapper and sealing the same and means comprisin a pair of heated bodies for pressing t e ends of the assembled articles andsealing the same.

4. In a machine for wrapping articles, means for. positioning the articles, means for applying a. waxed wrapper to said articles, roller means for supporting the wrapped articles, an electrically heated roll for heating and rolling the wrapper on the articlesv and means for maintaining the temperature of the roll constant.

5. In a machine for wrapping articles,

packages of articles, a pair of rollers for means for positioning a plurality of the articles, means for applying a wax ed wrapper to said articles, means comprising an electrically heated roll for rolling the surface of the wrapped articles and sealing the wrapper, means comprising a pair of electrically heated bodies for pressing the ends of the assembled articles and sealing the same and means for maintaining the temperature of the roll and the'said bodies substantially constant.

'6. A machine for Wrapping and sealing packages of circular articles, comprising a pair of rollers for supporting the package and a heated roll for heating and sealing the wrapper of a package.

7. In a machine for wrapping and sealing packages of articles, a pair of rollers for supporting a wrapped package, a hot roll, means for moving the hot roll into contact with the package and means for revolving the roll.

8. In a machinefor wrapping and sealing supporting a wrapped package, a hot roll,

means for moving the hot roll into contact with the package, means for revolving the roll and a thermostat positioned adjacent to the surface of the roll for maintaining the temperature thereof constant.

9. A machine for sealing a package of articles, comprising a pair of freely rotatable rollers for supporting the package and a heated roll rotatably mounted above said rollers in such position as to rest on the top of said package, and means for rotating said roll.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specifiation'this 9th day of September, 1927.

WALTER W. TEMPLIN. 

